Parkview buses damaged in fire

A fire Wednesday night on Parkview Baptist Church damaged a carport and two church buses, but not the church itself or any individuals.

The fire is being investigated by the state fire marshal’s office.

Firefighters from the Lake City Fire Department and officers from the Lake City Police Department responded around 9 p.m. to the church to the report of a fire.

Lake City Fire Chief Josh Wehinger said the fire was behind the carport across NW Lake Jeffery Road from the church where Parkview parks their vans. The carport and grass parking lot sit next to Memorial Stadium.

Both Wehinger and Mike Tatem, the senior pastor at Parkview, said the cause of the fire is unknown.

Homeless individuals had been staying by the carport and Wehinger said their items were also consumed in the fire. Those individuals were not present at the time of the fire, Wehinger said.

“I don’t know if they had a warming fire,” Wehinger said.

According to an LCPD release, arson was suspected in the fire.

“We don’t know what happened,” Tatem said, adding the fire marshal’s office was still conducting its investigation. “We don’t know if it was an unattended camp fire by some homeless people that were staying back there, or if there was some shenanigans by the homeless people. We don’t think we were necessarily the targets of that, we just think our vans were collateral damage to whatever was going on with the homeless community here.”

The fire in the parking lot spread through the chain link fence that surrounds the carport, Tatem said, and caught the back of the church buses on fire.

Tatem said the church is currently working with the insurance company about the incident but expects both buses will need to be replaced. Both are 15-passenger vehicles, one equipped with a handicap lift.

The church utilized the buses to transport parishioners to various outings from senior adult gatherings to events for youth.

While the fire and the loss of the buses until they can be replaced is a setback for Parkview, Tatem said it doesn’t change the church’s mission.

“We believe as a church that we’re called to serve this city and we’ve tried to serve the city well. That includes caring for and loving our homeless population. We’ll continue to do that,” he said, adding the church will reevaluate policies that are currently in place regarding some of its ministry programs. “We’ll still continue to open up our cold weather shelter and serve our homeless community that way and do what we can to help folks out.

“This was a setback but we’ll get over it, push through and come out stronger on the other side.”